


Telling a Bedtime Story

by UnicornofAmber



Series: Random/Vialle [4]
Category: Chronicles of Amber - Roger Zelazny
Genre: F/M, Random's daughters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21536350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornofAmber/pseuds/UnicornofAmber
Summary: Random's children need a bedtime story. Uncle Corwin obliges.Obviously after Patternfall.
Relationships: Random/Vialle (Chronicles of Amber)
Series: Random/Vialle [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1561285
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	Telling a Bedtime Story

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OneTrueStudent](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneTrueStudent/gifts).



“Uncle, tell us a story!”

“So demanding,” Corwin tsked at Random’s children. “Good.” The prince added with a smile, causing the two to grin very similarly like his brother. While they had their misschief from their father, they had their looks inherited from their mother. 

“Thank the Unicorn,” Random sighed relieved at times, “Just imagine the horror that my daughters will blame my genetics and bad hair.”

“What story do you want to hear?”

“Tell us how you got your eyes burned out!” Rianna exclaimed.

Corwin smiled, but to the children, they couldn’t read his body language well enough to notice discomfort underneath. “Again? I already told that story several times, now.”

“You managed to see again - it is as much a happy ending as those fairy tales mother read us about.” Moira said. “I wish she had your powers too, so she can see us like everyone else.”

“I had them, once.” A new voice said, and Corwin turned his head to see Vialle enter the bedroom. “And I could perceive everyone in a way I wasn’t able to do so before.”

“Your majesty…” Corwin shot up from his chair, when the queen stopped him with a little wave of her hand. 

“You don’t need to rush off because I am here. If you too desire a bedtime story, you are welcome to listen.”

“Anytime to listen to your voice, your majesty.” 

Vialle seated herself inbetween her two daughters, while Corwin seated himself in the chair somewhat apart. He was much more eager these days to listen to stories instead of telling them. Telling a story required memories, and many were still too painful to visit a second time. It was soothing to be brought into another world than his own, to forget… Or maybe he was becoming an old sentimental sap, the prince mused. His thoughts had stopped him from hearing Vialle’s story from the start, and Corwin quickly focused upon her voice again.

“-father was close to drowning, so I quickly swam, swam, swam to him-” Vialle began to tickle them, causing the twins to cackle from the ticklish feeling. “-and breathed my life and power in him.”

“But how can you speak right now?” Rianna pressed on.

“Your father pieced my voice back together. But that is for another story on another time-” Immediately the twins began to groan at the words of their mother. “Yes, my dears, it is time to sleep. Or would you much rather have father find out you two are still awake?”

Immediately, the two began to shake their heads. 

“Goodnight.”

“Night, mommy!” The twins shouted back from under their covers. 

No sooner were Vialle’s and Corwin’s footsteps gone, or the two princesses began to giggle and talk with one another. “I wonder how long it would take us to heal?” Rianna wondered. “Sure, we scrape our knees every once a while, or have a little cut, but nothing so major.”

“I don’t know, Ria,” Moira hesitantly said. “I do not fancy being blinded for years to come. Uncle Corwin is the fastest healer in our family, and for him it took 4 years to regrow his eyes. Just imagine how long we would have to wait!”

“Then we pick something else, like… a finger.”

Moira stared at her ‘older’ sister, who hopped off her bed and took out the knife from her desk. Father had given it to them as protection from the phantoms under their bed. _They don’t like silver, so as long as you keep it close, they will not harm you._ “Are you really serious?!”

“Moira, we have the same powers as uncle Corwin. It is not that we can get hurt _that_ much.” Rianna rolled her eyes. “Or are you scared for some blood, sister?”

“I’m not scared, I am being cautio-” Moira’s sentence turned into a howling scream when Rianna slashed the knife across her fingers. Simultaniously, Rianna let the knife drop for the agony of her sister. “What in Shadow?!” Moira screamed as she clutched her heavily bleeding stumps to her nightgown. 

“If you didn’t move around your hand, I-I-I wouldn’t have cut three of them!” Rianna finally managed to say to her sister. She didn’t mean to let her bleed that much! “I-I’m sorry, Moira, I didn’t mean to-”

“You are blaming me now?! Look what you did!” 

“I see.” Rianna quietly said as she stared at the red knife upon the ground. “I see, sister.” 

“Then look me in the eye! Or are you scared for some blood, sister?” Moira used the same words on her and used her good hand to force Rianna’s chin up to look at her wounds.

BANG-BANG!

The doors flew open and against the wall when the guards burst into the room, followed by their father and a couple of their uncles and aunts with their swords in hand.

Random glanced from the bloodied knife to Moira’s bleeding hand before settling his eyes on Rianna’s crying eyes. “What has happened here?” The king demanded, even though he could already piece the scenario together, he wanted his daughters to explain for their own.

“I wanted to know whether we could heal as fast as uncle Corwin.” Rianna said ashamed. 

“You are happy with the results of your experiment?” Random somewhat sarcastically asked while sheathing his sword, which gained him a squeeze on his shoulder from Vialle. The king glanced at his wife, who was already on the way to Moira to make up the damage, and sighed when he saw Rianna wince. It was difficult to separate the king and the father role. Too often they blended together. “It will be fine, Rianna. Your mother will see to your sister.” Random said as he knelt by his oldest daughter. The king spared a glance to Vialle and reached for her shoulder when she wanted to take Moira with her to the infirmary. “But first, I want to have a word with you both.” The king went on, rubbing Vialle’s arm to sign that he wanted to be left alone. The more slow minded guards now discretely went out of the room to leave the King with his daughters.

“But it hurts!” Moira spoke through her tears. 

“I know that it hurts, Moira. But it will pass” Random hushed the younger sister in a firm but sympathetic tone while picking up the knife and cleaning it. “I told you both numerous times, that a knife is not a toy but a tool.” Random flipped the knife in his hand, so the hilt was pointing to his daughters instead of himself. “And what you chose to use it for, has dire consequences.”

It seems they already chose to settle the succession matter." Caine suddenly remarked with a little smirk. Said smirk faltered the tiniest bit when he saw the eyes of the King settle on him. 

“Your commentary is very ill-considered, brother.”

“It is not fair to hide them away from us. They will learn one way or another. I’m merely voicing what’s happening right in front-”

“And the door is right in front of _me_ .” Random slowly said to the sea-captain. “Get out _THE FUCK_ out of this room before I make you!” The king snarled as he pointed with his finger to the door as if he wanted to put Caine in time-out.

Caine’s smirk had vanished completely now and he nodded sharply before striding out of the door. Random took a few moments to get his breathing under control and rubbed his pounding head before turning towards his daughters. It was as he feared.

The faces of his daughters were filled to the brim with distrust and paranoia, and before they even opened their mouth he already could guess what they would say.

“She wanted me dead?” Moira asked as she searched with her hand for a new weapon. 

“Rianna, did you want to hurt your sister?” Random asked his other daughter before Moira could continue.

“I wanted to know how quick she would heal, like uncle Corwin. But… But I didn’t mean to-to hurt her that much!” Rianna swallowed to try and keep her tears at bay. 

“It is still done!” Moira snapped at her. “You still caused it to happen, you still-”

“MOIRA!” Random stopped his youngest daughter from rambling on. “It is as you said, it is done.” Random calmly went on, “That gives you no right to keep hammering the guilt into your sister. She apologized, now you apologize for screaming at her.”

“Wha- I did nothing wrong!” Moira replied with wide eyes. “She went to take that knife, SHE-” Moira became silent when she saw her father’s disapproving look. “Alright.... I’m sorry for screaming at you, Rianna.”

"I'm sorry too."

The two sisters regarded each other with hesitation and the King realized they needed a final push. "Come on, it looks like you both need a hug." Immediately his daughters crawled to him, each ticked under one of his arms and the king pulled them to his chest. "I love the both of you so much - I wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to either of you. And while it may seem you might hate your sister for all eternity, you two are still blood." Random paused. “Me and my siblings were not as close as you two were. The reasons we drew our weapons were to intentionally hurt one another, while they should have been drawn to defend one another.” Random paused and sighed. “Your mother asked me to wait till you were older to hear this story. But tonight seems very fitting to tell it.”

“Which story is that?” Rianna meekly asked.

“After Moira's hand is bandaged, I will tell how I came to be King of Amber.” Random answered and the eyes of his daughters lit up with excitement and the slightest hint of unease. Something told them it wasn’t going to be a fairy tale.

-()-

After giving them both a goodnight kiss, Random closed the door behind his daughters and rolled his shoulders to release the tension. It worked barely.

“Moira is going to be fine, Random.” 

“I know, but her physical wounds are not what worry me.” The king muttered to his wife. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“For not being around more with you… them.” Random sighed, before saying, “It was bound to happen eventually. There is too much Amber in their blood to-”

“Oh Random, stop beating yourself up.” Vialle smiled at her husbands self-doubt. “It isn’t due to their genes that they fight. It was like you said, a little experiment due to Corwin's fantastical tale."

"I sense a 'but' coming up," Random noted when Vialle went quiet.

"But, I have to agree with Caine - it isn't good you hide them away from many of your brothers and sisters and keep the leash so tightly on your daughters. It could not only cause a growing wedge between you and your siblings, but also make your daughters rebel against you."

Random let out another deep sigh. "I know. But,-"

"But you want to protect them. And what if you are not around to do so?" Vialle gave the hypothetical scenario, causing Random to wince.

"I'll think about it. _Truly_ think about it." Random answered after a long pause. "But not here, in this castle. What do you say we go out in Shadow with the girls? It would do them good to broaden their mind and experience, and we have some quality time as a family. Surely Gérard can handle my duties for a couple of days without losing his sanity...” The king murmured as he pulled Vialle close to him.

“I’ll look what I can reschedule-” Vialle began,

“You reschedule _everything_ this week.” Random interrupted his wife with the tone he normally used to order around. “No exceptions.”

“As my king commands.”

Random involuntarily smiled when Vialle curtsied shyly to him, bringing him back to his return from Patternfall. She’d looked just the way she was now, though with an extra wrinkle. “No one but I bow before you, my queen.” 

Vialle’s heart raced as quickly as it had then, when he had uttered those words to her upon his return from the Patternfall war, and she kissed her husband with as much passion in the present. “Come on, let us pack our bags.” Vialle replied a bit out of breath from their kiss and pulled Random along. 

Giddy like a child, Random followed his wife to their chambers. To pack their bags, off course.

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah... diverting into some fanservice of my own. I don't care how difficult it is to procreate, I see Random and Vialle have children of their own after book 10.


End file.
